Prior to today’s matchup between the Mets and the Rangers, the early bird fans at Citi Field got to watch the Alumni Classic game in which several players from the team’s past suited up and took the field. It was, like many of the things that Steve Cohen has done since he took control of the team, a wonderful celebration of the history of this franchise and the players—some of them legends, some of them mere journeymen who nevertheless endeared themselves to fans—who have worn the orange and blue
over the years.
Of course, such celebrations of the past do obscure one key point: the fact that the team’s history, by and large, is one of heartbreak and despair. Some thrilling moments in between all the doom and gloom, to be sure, but ultimately Mets fans have been treated to far more devastating ends to their season than successes. And now, following another backbreaking loss in which the team made a series of crucial blunders while failing to come through when they most desperately needed to, we now stand on the verge of another horrifying, atrocious end to a season that once started with such promise—in other words, just another average Mets season.
Today’s pitching matchup saw Brandon Sproat—fresh off his major league debut last weekend—face off against Patrick Corbin, whom the Mets have faced plenty of times over the past few years with the Nationals. The Amazins had a premium chance of scoring against Corbin in the first after loading the bases with two outs, but Starling Marte took a 3-2 pitch for strike three to end the threat. That proved to be the best chance the bats would have against the veteran lefty for a while, as he worked around baserunners in each of the next three innings (a walk in the second and singles in the third and fourth, respectively). The lack of production from the bats put all the pressure on the Mets’ rookie starter to match Corbin’s zeroes.
Fortunately, Sproat proved to be up to the task, as he too shut worked around a few threats and shut the Rangers down. Mixing and matching all six of his pitches, he threw strikes and challenged the Texas hitters, and the defense was able to make some plays behind him. In the third inning, for instance, he gave up two one-out singles to put runners on first and second for Wyatt Langford, but he then induced a ground ball that Jeff McNeil fielded at second and was able to turn the double play to get out of the inning. Sproat then came within one strike of an immaculate inning in the fourth, but Josh Jung fouled off the ninth pitch of the inning. No matter, though: on the following pitch, he hit a shot to third that Mark Vientos was able to make a diving stop on, and he made the throw to secure the 1-2-3 inning.
That is more or less how it went all afternoon for Sproat: he rarely overpowered Rangers hitters, but he was efficient and got the big outs when he needed them. Despite only being at seventy pitches after six, Carlos Mendoza elected to play it safe and pull the rookie at that point. His final line—six innings, six hits, no walks, three strikeouts, zero runs—was exactly what the doctor ordered after a series of poor starting pitching performances, and he certainly proved that he deserves to keep getting the ball for the big league team.
Prior to Sproat’s exit, the Mets finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Francisco Lindor started the inning by dropping down a perfect bunt for a single. Corbin rebounded, however, by getting Juan Soto to pop up for the first out, and he then got two strikes on Pete Alonso. But on a 2-2 pitch, the Polar Bear hit a soft bloop single to right field. Lindor read the ball well and sprinted for third base; second baseman Cody Freeman fielded the ball in shallow right and made a throw to third base that skipped past Jung, and Lindor quickly broke home to score the first run of the ballgame. Bruce Bochy then pulled Corbin, and Cole Winn came on to retire the next two batters to leave Alonso stranded at second.
The Mets had a chance to add some more runs after Sproat pitched his final scoreless inning, as the first two runners in the bottom of the sixth got on via a single from Brett Baty (pinch hitting for Marte) and a hit-by-pitch against Francisco Alvarez (in his hands, which undoubtedly made every Met fan gasp in horror given his two injured fingers, but he was thankfully fine). The Rangers brought in lefty Hoby Milner to face McNeil, but before he even got a pitch Baty gifted Texas an out by being too casual going back to second on a pick-off throw. He was initially called safe, but the Rangers successfully challenged the call to get the out, and the momentum of the inning was already ruined. Sure enough, McNeil flew out to center and Jose Siri struck out to end the threat and leave the lead at just one measly run.
Thankfully for the Mets, Sproat pitched deep enough into the game that Mendoza was able to turn to the few relievers who remain in the circle of trust. Brooks Raley was called upon for the top of the seventh and worked around a two-out double to hold the Rangers scoreless. And in the bottom of the frame, the Mets finally got some insurance, as Juan Soto blasted a one-out solo bomb into the second deck in right field for his 40th homer of the year to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. With two innings left to go, a much-needed win was within sight.
But of course, this team couldn’t possibly make it easy. Tylor Rogers came on for the eighth inning and quickly got in trouble, as Josh Smith led off by reaching on a catcher’s interference (the 100th time this has happened to the Mets this year; don’t look that up, you know that it feels true). Langford then lined a ball into the left field corner to put runners on second and third with one out, and Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice fly to center to give the Rangers their first run of the ballgame and cut the deficit to one, with the tying run still at second base. Rogers thankfully bore down and got a much-needed strikeout against Jake Burger, and Mendoza then brought in Edwin Díaz to go for the four-out save. Alas, he walked in his batter (although the fourth ball was a strike that the umpire missed), and pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez then hit a double to right that brought home the tying run. Thankfully for the Mets, the ball bounced out of play and thus prevented the runner at first from scoring, and Díaz induced a grounder to first from the next batter to end the inning. Nevertheless, the lead was gone, and the Mets found themselves punched in the face once again.
And we have seen time and time again: when this team is knocked down, they simply do. Not. Get. Back. Up. In the eighth inning, they looked like they might actually respond after Brandon Nimmo advanced on an infield single and advanced to second on an errant throw. But Baty—whose baserunning blunder earlier was suddenly looming quite large—failed to advance the runner to third by striking out, and Alvarez grounded out to third for the second out. McNeil then walked to put runners on first and second (in-between which Rangers reliever Chris Martin had to exit the game due to injury, bringing Phil Maton in the game mid-plate appearance), and Cedric Mullins was called upon to pinch-hit for Jose Siri. Alas, the struggling Mullins struck out swinging to end the inning and keep the game tied heading into the ninth.
Díaz came on for the top of the ninth looking for some redemption. Cody Freeman started the inning by lining a ball off the glove of a leaping Lindor at shortstop, and pinch runner Dustin Harris was then moved over to second on a bunt. Díaz then struck out the next batter to put himself one out away from getting the Mets to the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied. Alas, Langford then came up with his second big hit of the game, lining a ball to center to score Harris from second and giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead—the first time they’d been up all day. Díaz retired the last batter of the inning, but now the Mets had to do something they’ve failed to do all season: make a comeback in the ninth inning or later.
If you’ve been watching this team all season, you already knew that wasn’t going to happen—even though they once again got some baserunners to provide some hope. After Lindor struck out against Maton to lead off the inning, Soto lined a ball to center to get the tying run on-base, and the Rangers then brought in Shawn Armstrong to try to close it out. He struck out Pete Alonso for the second out, but pinch-hitter Ronny Mauricio then lined a ball to right for a single to put Soto on third, just ninety feet away from tying the game. But, well: these are the 2025 Mets. They may sometimes come close, but when push comes to shove, they simply will not get the final big hit that they need. And indeed, Brandon Nimmo struck out swinging to end the game. Thus, the losing streak is up to eight, the Mets stand at just three games over .500, and their lead in the playoff race is, for the moment, completely gone.
So… what is there to say? The Mets finally got a starting pitching performance they needed, and the bats and bullpen failed to get the job done. Perhaps tomorrow the bats will wake up and Nolan McLean will get rocked. Or maybe the bullpen will just blow it again. One way or another, it seems as though some component of the team will fail every single time. It’s also possible that tomorrow marks the day the team finally wakes up and starts playing the way they’re capable of. But we’ve been saying that same thing for months, and with the playoff lead now gone, the reasons for optimism are all but gone.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Brandon Sproat, +35.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Edwin Díaz, -50.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -13.8% WPA
Mets hitters: -36.3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso single/Francisco Lindor scores on error from Cody Freeman, +16.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Wyatt Langford RBI single in the ninth, -35.8% WPA
